The present invention relates generally to shopping carts, and is particularly concerned with a shopping cart having improved nesting ability.
Shopping carts typically have a wheeled base and an upright frame with a handle, and a basket projecting forwardly from the frame for receiving items to be purchased. A pivoted gate at the rear end of the basket allows a series of carts to be nested for storage purposes, with the forward end of one basket pushed into the rear end of another basket via the pivoted gate. The base also has a pivoting lower tray for permitting nesting of the base of one cart into the base of the cart in front. The moving parts on these conventional carts cause rattling and significant amounts of noise when wheeling a cart around a store. Additionally, they are liable to jam and malfunction after repeated use, causing carts to lock together such that customers cannot easily separate them when required for use.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,435,582 and 5,507,507 of Davidson both describe shopping carts with a wheeled base having a pivoted and stepped support rack, an upper basket, and a lower basket stepped forwardly from the upper basket. Each of the baskets has a conventional pivoted rear wall for nesting purposes, so these carts are subject to the same noise and rattling problems as conventional one basket carts.